Monday members of Project Hope No Kill Animal Shelter announced plans to construct an addition for cats. The cats currently in cages will be able to move around freely in the 841 square foot cat addition.

Project Hope No Kill Animal Shelter began in a shed in the backyard of Marcia Hensley, of Metropolis, with about three dogs. Now, the shelter has 80 dogs and 115 cats and as Project Hope Board Chairman Lauren Reams said Monday afternoon, the shelter is quite literally “bursting at the seams.”

That is why the shelter is moving forward with plans to construct an 841-square foot addition to the north side of its existing building. Board member Stephanie Ervin says the addition is “nerve wracking and exciting.”

The shelter plans to devote the new space to the felines, that are currently kept in caged areas at the shelter. Reams says in the new addition, the cats would be free-roaming and would not be kept in cages.

Project Hope volunteer Tish Lewis points out it would help the cats be more social if they could walk around and may even help them be more ready to be adopted. Lewis said the cats would be more comfortable in a “home-like” environment.

For cats kept in a cage most of the time at the shelter, then being adopted into a home and being able to roam, it can be a big adjustment, according to board member Glenda Sullivan, who has been involved with Project Hope since its start in Hensley’s backyard. Sullivan hosted the very first organizational meeting in her home.

Ervin said the shelter has been told the main building is structurally sound and salvageable, but work needs to be done to it, in addition to the special addition for the cats. Ervin explained the main building is not currently handicapped accessible. She said the main building also is in need of new flooring and upgrades to the bathrooms. Once the cats are moved into the new space, improvements can be made to the main part of the building, which would house the office area.

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